Land of the Blind

Wonderful. Jess Walter is one of the finest writers working today and this, his second novel of something like five, is something special. The story has remarkably fleshed out characters (even ones that only put in an appearance or two) and a dark story of the consistency and solidity of a persons identity from childhood through adulthood. Nothing in this story feels phoned in or artificial, the dialogue, the build up, the resolution and idea and possibility of redemption, all done meticulously and with the kind of skill that can and really only should be expected by walter. Read it. NOW.

Most sequels are similar in style to their predecessor, but Land of the Blind is stylistically very different from Over Tumbled Graves. I don't know if Walter's book deal at that point was dependent on this second novel being a sequel, but it seems to me that's not what he wanted to write and the novel suffers a bit from stretching to be a detective mystery involving Caroline Mabry.

I really liked Caroline in OTG, where she was a central figure. Here she's just hanging on to the periphery of the novel, just as she's barely hanging on to her job. She does have one scene of bad-guy-asskicking that shows some of her former glory, but mostly she's just a shadow, running around trying to figure out what crime could have been committed by her show more suspect. One thing that is consistent is that Caroline's romantic attractions make absolutely no sense to me. Serious WTF territory.

The heart of the novel is a handwritten (thank you, Jess Walter, for not using some hokey faux-handwriting font) "confession" from Clark, a failed politician, bankrupt both financially and morally, who after being picked up for trespassing at a hotel undergoing remodeling, says he wants to confess to a murder, but only under Caroline's watch. His is a story of growing up poor, of being bullied, and of rising above all that through sheer determination, only to falter time after time. His story is intertwined with that of Eli, alternately the focus of his rage and pity, the person he claims to have killed.

Walter is becoming one of my favorite writers and he excels when writing in Clark's voice. Overall, I'd rate this novel 3.5 stars, rounding up because the parts that are good are very, very good. show less

I just read this for a book group and was underwhelmed. One of my favorite books this summer was Walter's [b:Beautiful Ruins|11447921|Beautiful Ruins|Jess Walter|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1338161553s/11447921.jpg|16381755], but this riff on the police procedural (less "who dunnit" and more "what exactly is it that he dun") did not quite grab me--or rather, it grabbed me but only in that mildly icky way that an intense television cop show grabs you and then leaves you deflated with no sense of a there there. It seemed predictably unpredictable, if that makes sense. I found the long first pages about bullying depressing without really revealing much about the main characters and the "surprise surprise" final pages (and this kind of show more book needs to have a big payoff to make the long wait worthwhile) just fell flat for me. Walter is an excellent writer, to be sure, and you can see that here in flashes, but this particular story will not be one that I recommend of his. show less

I have just finished reading all of Jess Walter's non fiction. I do a lot of reading so unless an author impresses me, I usually do not read more than one book by that author(too many good books out there). Walter impressed me. It started with Beautiful Ruins which is his most popular book and the one that I would recommend as the first read. I have thought that this, his 2nd novel ,would be a follow up to his first because he had Caroline the detective from the that novel as a character. She was in the book but not as a major part. The book is more about childhood connections and the impact of that time on people's lives. I found it enough of a mystery and a good read to keep my interest. Walter has 7 novels of fiction and he is a very show more good writer. He does good character studies, has an excellent literary style and tells a good story. I strongly recommend him as an author you might like. show less

I was immediately impressed. This is my second book of Jess Walter's. It is about a man who comes in to confess to a crime. He starts writing down his story on a legal pad and is still going more than 19 hours and three pads later. The story alternates between this man, Clark Mason, and the female detective, Caroline Mabry. Clark starts his "Statement of Fact" back when he is five years old. So the story switches between present and past. Jess does so with skill, however, and as a reader I was completely entranced and not at all confused. I loved it!

An oddly structured mystery--could seem like a gimick but it works for this story

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12394070